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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22395763">Midnight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious'>NervousAliceCurious</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Ice Cream, Obscure Character, fighting death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:21:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,545</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22395763</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When one is trying to sleep, one does not need to be disturbed by the Ice Cream man. Unless, of course, the Ice Cream man is more than he appears.</p>
<p>Cw: Phys. wounds, abuse. Death. Hint of gore. Grief. Eating and/or eating ice cream.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Midnight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts"></a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For you!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I was just minding my own business for once.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Can you believe it?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The <strong>one</strong> time-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When this ice cream car rolls up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Its engine backfires TWICE.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While I’m trying to sleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I hang upside from the tree while the driver sets up his aluminum cones.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Which <strong>rattle-</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Frowning, I hop down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Pardon me sir, but it’s quite late”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His wolfish eyes stare innocently.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I hadn’t realized someone would be here so soon”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m a special case”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And your <strong>only</strong> case at flat midnight-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Would you like some vanilla chunks?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, I’d like you to stop making such noise”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He goes back to fiddling with his creams.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…Are you going to camp out here all night?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why yes, yes I am”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh…<strong>fun.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You won’t attract much customers that way”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmm…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But you never know”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turns around.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maybe. It’s what I’m hoping”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Haha.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In his hands is a giant bucket of purple.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Care to taste-test? It’s a new flavor”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nooo, I’m fine~”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And not dumb~</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you sure? Black-raspberry swirl-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m <strong>very</strong> full at the moment”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sounds delicious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Pfft.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright then…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He picks up a giant scooper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My eyebrow raises to the heavens.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you need that for?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He runs his finger along the edge.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Cue getting backhanded across the face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Ow-</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hurt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Heh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s been a while since someone’s had the gall to harm me…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-And we have a bloody nose.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If the wetness in my nostrils is any indication.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It is immensely dark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I can’t see two fingers in front of my face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ugh…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alright…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Let’s get up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-My head spins, and I nearly black out immediately from the rush.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No time to give in, however.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’ll <strong>never</strong> give in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wipe the streams out of my eyes and feel for a door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A hatch, a trap chute, anything that will lift, really.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Whatever will get me out of this mess the fastest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m not fussy…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don’t have my knives on me…nor my bombs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Smart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’ll give him that much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He really should’ve known better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My fingers scrape against ice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There we go…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Long strip thins out to a corner-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I cleave it down with one strong kick!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Almost fall-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wolfish hands try to hold me back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I scoff.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I may be half out to space.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But I don’t intend to be stuck here any longer than I have to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I push him off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Try it, at any rate-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the end, he’s still a fragile ice-cream man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What on earth did you think you could gain?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’s the one bleeding, now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…I knew who you were the minute you opened your mouth…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Please<strong> do</strong> go on…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael the Ambiguous”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing ‘ambiguous’ about it”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You would’ve gotten in my way”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And what ‘way’ would that have been?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…He refuses to say.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of <strong>course</strong> he does.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fortunately-</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s more than one ice cream chest aboard this truck.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>-My stomach drops out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I have to eat somehow”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When-did…this…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am a wolf, after all”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His neck snaps before I can stop myself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As if I would even want to-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She deserves better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Poor girl…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I lift her out of the box.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Can’t be more than five.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>……My rage takes over-I stuff it in the back of my mind just as fast.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>No time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Death is most certainly on their way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I sweep the body underneath my cloak.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hammer space.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Heh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Where did he put my things?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I overturn his ice creams until it looks like a rainbow vomited all over the place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The violet one he was so adamant about, I dump onto his corpse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I climb out the window, and narrowly avoid the twisting shadow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don’t know.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don’t know if there is a method to fix this, or not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There <strong>should</strong> be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If there isn’t, I’ll <strong>make</strong> one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It doesn’t take long for the shadow to come swooping to me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I speed up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something catches around my foot, and I pitch headfirst into the bushes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Because of course, I need to make my concussion worse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-The furthest from my mind as I hurry to check if I’ve lost-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I haven’t.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Good.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…You can’t hide her from me”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not hiding anyone”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You are…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t say that. Did you know he eats children?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know everything anyway”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They sigh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t make this harder”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s no stolen bodies here”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There is-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The knot holding my cloak in place is undone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Disappears off of me with a whoosh-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She didn’t slip, I’m glad-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kindly give that!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s cold.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where-did you-put her-?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You didn’t ask to look through those pockets!!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I grab the hood, and drag it out of their hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-Now, is when the mangled figure is revealed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I <strong>freeze.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She hits the snow with a soft thump.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“……….”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“……….”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>….That wasn’t supposed to happen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At <strong>all.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They crouch, and pick her up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s too late for that”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It is not!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It is”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Black smoke…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It is <strong>not”.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>My arm clamps onto the child.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have no plans to let. <strong>Go.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Leave her”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>“No”.</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Michael”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t. <strong>Take her”.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Excuse me. I get that she died.</p>
<p>And right under your nose no less”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>J-just because you know everything-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“However”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“However?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That doesn’t mean you are allowed to interfere with the natural processes of this world”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Natural?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How is <strong>this</strong> natural?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You may be Death, but you can <strong>still</strong> be hurt”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You mean like <strong>you</strong> are?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“-That has nothing to do with this”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I yank-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don’t see it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It still cracks me across the face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My grip falters briefly-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m finding it difficult to stand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My head spins…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m hanging on to empty air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You barely even knew her”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-You have the<strong> nerve</strong> to speak to me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I spit a mouthful of blood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why do you care?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“None of your business”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just let her go”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I scoff.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…Even if you <strong>could</strong> bring her to life again, it wouldn’t miraculously clear the damage”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There must be ways that <strong>do”.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Even if there were-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“‘Even if there were’ what”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Even if there <strong>was</strong> a way. I couldn’t let you do it”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And why is that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because even if she came back, she’d still die at some point”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Better than dying now”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Her soul is already gone”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You really wish to force her from the Afterlife?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It hasn’t-been that long-“</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>I met her personally.</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I meet them all. In the end”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What…did she…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can hear her yourself. If you want”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>An outstretched hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dare I-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s cold.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘I don’t know what happened. I was just eating ice cream. And then I was here’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘…Was it good?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘…It was okay. It tasted purple’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘That’s good…’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Can I go home?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>……………………………………………………….</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘I don’t…think you want to go home’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘How come?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Well…’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Death leans on their scythe.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Your body…kind-of quit’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘What does that mean?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘It means…it didn’t want to work anymore’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Aw. That’s not fair. It could’ve asked, first’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Something…unexpected came up’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Like what?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Life’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Oh’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>She blinks.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Do you think they’ll miss me?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘They will…’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Will they be sad?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘…They will…’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘I don’t want anyone to be sad…’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘It’s normal’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>*</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Normal?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>This is <strong>not</strong> normal.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>*</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Everyone’s sad when someone goes…it just happens’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Will they be okay without me?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘They will be…eventually’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>*</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>What a lie.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I’ve seen it all by now-</em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <em>It’s a 50/50 chance.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>*</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Do I have to go now?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Yes’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Where?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Just follow me…’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>*</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>.............Is this…supposed to make me stop?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>It’s not working, if so.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Yet I’m not truly present here.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>They can’t hear me snarking, otherwise, I most likely would have been glared at by now.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Or something…</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Still.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I do wonder if I can affect anything, at least.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I try to touch her shoulder-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘By the way. There’s someone who wants to see you’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Somebody?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>They turn to look at me.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>My hand successfully closes.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘I don’t know you’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>She seems to flinch-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“I know, but I knew you…sort-of”.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Are you a scary stranger?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“No. I don’t-“</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I don’t harm children.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Why do you want to see me?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>She’s clinging on to their sleeve.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“I could’ve saved you…”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>It-<strong>hurts.</strong></em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I could-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>It does.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Saved me from what?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“…”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>How do I-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Someone…someone…killed you…”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Killed?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Confusion.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘I don’t…get it’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“You shouldn’t have to leave so young”.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘It’s not my fault’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“That’s right…”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>She starts to edge away from me.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I…</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“It’s not…”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Are you gonna be sad?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>…I can’t believe this.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Please don’t be sad. You don’t know me anyway’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“What?”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>She points at my face.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I didn’t even notice.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Purple tears on the ends of my gloves.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“. . . But. I-“</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Please?’</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Those eyes-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I…don’t want-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>...............................................</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“…I <strong>won’t</strong> let this happen again”.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Death smiles.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Is it good enough for you yet?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>‘Come on…it’s okay’.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>They disappear into a light that fries my nerves and finally-</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Knocks me out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sun’s up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Decent hour to be buying ice cream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Too bad it’s a crime scene.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Police tape swathes the area.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wasn’t in time to witness the traumatic discovery.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Perhaps it’s just as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>……….</p>
<p>…I went and made a promise.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have to keep it…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even if it changes me to the me I am afraid I will become.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Spot the Melanie Martinez reference.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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